


Never Apart

by Ilerre



Series: The Walking Dead Prompts - Dixoncest / Dixcest [8]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, M/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-05
Updated: 2015-08-05
Packaged: 2018-04-13 03:59:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4506894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilerre/pseuds/Ilerre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was more than simple brotherhood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Apart

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:  
>  The Dixon brothers' relationship seen through the eyes of the group. ******

0

It was more than simple brotherhood. 

They _acted_ like brothers, that was clear. Merle had a protective streak a mile wide, and while Daryl was more subtle, more withdrawn for use of a better word, the group knew it was just to hide his own protectiveness. 

They acted like a really well-oiled machine, testament of years and years of familiarity. They knew each other by heart. More often than not, they didn't even need to talk because they were already on the same page, on the same wavelength, and knew what the other needed before even opening his mouth. 

They were unashamedly close and touched all the time. Merle rarely let Daryl out of his sight, and the younger brother had a tendency to reach out for his brother, even unconsciously. They ate in front of the fire with Daryl's back against Merle's chest every night, slept curled up together, walked closely so their shoulders or arms were always touching, and anywhere they sat, they were bundled up into one another, seeking each other's warmth. 

Rick had seen the barely concealed panic in Merle's eyes when he'd nearly left him on the rooftop, and Daryl's shaking hands when they'd all reunited on the motorway after losing the farm. He'd seen Merle nearly losing his mind in grief after the prison, not knowing if his little brother was even alive. Then later, Rick had watched him clean Daryl's face after the beating he'd received from the Claimers, quietly murmuring comforting words for both their sakes. 

And all those gestures, from the beginning, had been entwined with affectionate petting, sweet nicknames, small kisses, and a love so deep and so powerful, Rick doubted he'd ever even loved Lori that much. 

The Dixon brothers had such a strong and powerful bond, it was hard to tell where one started and the other ended. They just complemented one another in every possible way. 

Rick couldn't precisely remember his reaction when he first saw them kiss in a way that couldn't possibly pass as platonic like all the other gestures the brothers allowed themselves in front of the group. 

Disgust, incomprehension. _Worry_ , even. 

But as the months passed, as he started to understand and know them as something other than inbred rednecks, then he saw them for what they were. It took a while to accept that. To stop avoiding Carl's questions and answer as truthfully as he could.  

They were brothers, obviously. Best friends, glaringly. And lovers, indisputably.

It was hard to put his old moral compass behind him, but knowing that in this new world they couldn't spare any second questioning themselves, he quickly came to accept it because when he looked at his and Lori's relationship at the end, how his blatant failure was glaring at them all in how he couldn't stand her touch anymore and how she could barely look at him without sneering, then he really couldn't possibly pass judgment.

He saw the information more or less draw rapidly on the others as they also accepted it.

Carol never ever blinked, bless that woman, and forged a deep bond with Daryl, and on a lesser degree with Merle. Maybe it came from their shared past. Two men like them, Merle so violent and quick to anger, and Daryl so withdrawn and untrustworthy could only have been molded into what they were from years and years of abuse.

Glenn and Maggie accepted it at the same time, like a lot of things they did; they did it together and never looked back. They saw Merle and Daryl's relationship for what it was; something beautiful, and in a way purer than even their own relationship, and something that couldn't be moved even by the damn apocalypse.

Back in the quarry, and to Rick's ultimate shock, it was Shane who told him about the relationship in the first place without even making any snide or derogatory comment. He was even the one who pointed to Rick how stupid it was to judge them, and to just let them be. Sometimes, Rick thought he saw Shane cast a yearning glance toward the brothers—not really in longing for any of them—but more for what they represented.

Lori, unsurprisingly, reacted predictably, and forbade Carl from even _talking_ to Daryl or Merle. She didn't even change her mind when Daryl saved Carl from a group of walkers just before finding Hershel's home, or Merle after he got Carl to the highway after the herd made them lose the farm.

Then Hershel, for all his bible waving at first meet, became a great supporter at the prison. Often talking to Daryl and Merle quietly in the evenings, not even blinking at the brother's entwined body on the chair the shared.

And later, Sasha and Tyreese, in a way, with their own sibling bond, could relate a bit more easily with the Dixons, and shrugged it as another eccentricity of the Georgian people coming from the mountains.

Michonne for her part, was too aloof at first to even cast judgment, then reluctantly became friend with Merle through banter and flying insults. Daryl, closer to the group and not so withdrawn anymore, came to consider her family and accepted her as a dear member. She wasn't one to judge; she was too rough, too close to her inner self to even be bothered by two people loving one another even if they were brothers. Like most of them, she didn't give a shit about it, because they could die at any moment.

Rick didn't delude himself in any way. He knew Lori had been very close to make the brothers leave the group back at the farm. Daryl at first, wasn't making any effort to bound with anyone, but strangely enough, Merle was. Even today, Rick sometimes had cold sweat and nightmares about what would have happened if they hadn't been with them.

They only survived the winter after the prison because of Daryl's perfect hunting skills, and survived through Terminus because of Merle's strength and skills with combat. And then, there was the fact the two brothers had become a very cherished and precious part of the group. They were family, and family looked after one another.

Rick was very close to Daryl, and Merle had become a very good friend to Michonne.

That's why Rick hesitated so much in trusting Aaron.

What would become of them all at that supposedly safe place? Was it a trap? Could they trust the man who followed them for so long, and looked at them as if he couldn't believe what they had become?

He didn't take long to think about it, and as Merle pointed out, Carl and Judith needed that place. The adults could barely survive as they were, but a baby as young as Judith? It was even a miracle she had survived to leave a year already, without proper medical care and vaccines every baby required in the old world.

He saw Daryl and Merle exchange low words the night before entering Alexandria. He saw Merle reassure his brother, and for a moment, Rick felt so guilty he could barely breathe. From the start he had ask those people to put their lives on the line for him and his children. From the start, he took control and let them sacrifice so much for him. He didn't feel good about that, he didn't feel proud.

He doubted those people would accept two brothers as lovers.

He just hoped entering those walls wouldn't make him lose Daryl and Merle.

0

**Author's Note:**

> This work is unbetaed. Please feel free to point any typos you saw or missing words, or any sentences that just don't make any sense :)
> 
> [SUBMIT A PROMPT HERE](http://hillbells.tumblr.com/submit)


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